


Timers

by C1ashi1dr



Series: Thirteen Fanzine Prompt Week [4]
Category: Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Gen, Kinda crack?, it's just some good fun after my last two
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-05
Updated: 2020-06-05
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:01:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24548836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/C1ashi1dr/pseuds/C1ashi1dr
Summary: “Doctor, be careful!” Yaz’s hissed words were the only sound in the open air, beyond the ticking from just a bit to the Doctor’s left. “You don’t want to-”“Gotta concentrate, Yaz.”
Relationships: Thirteenth Doctor & Graham O'Brien, Thirteenth Doctor & Ryan Sinclair, Thirteenth Doctor & Yasmin Khan, Thirteenth Doctor & Yasmin Khan & Graham O'Brien & Ryan Sinclair
Series: Thirteen Fanzine Prompt Week [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1770349
Kudos: 20





	Timers

**Author's Note:**

> glad to finally be able to write some fluff with this one. i was getting a little tired of angst!
> 
> this is for [@thirteenfanzine's](https://thirteenfanzine.tumblr.com/) prompt week, with the fourth prompt of "Out of Time". I hope you guys enjoy, i know i enjoyed writing it.

“Doctor, be careful!” Yaz’s hissed words were the only sound in the open air, beyond the ticking from just a bit to the Doctor’s left. “You don’t want to-”

“Gotta concentrate, Yaz,” the Doctor retorted, trying to keep her voice steady along with her arm. She was perched carefully, her balance precarious but that always happened. Even standing the Doctor was always on the edge of losing what semblance of balance she held. "That means you gotta be quiet."

"Hurry, Doc, hurry," Ryan said, only to be shushed by both the Doctor and Yaz. Why was he so loud? He gave a grumble of annoyance and the Doctor figured Yaz had fixed him with a glare, judging by the way he'd cut himself off in the middle of the action. She stifled a chuckle, instead focusing on the task at hand. It was vital that she get this right. She only had one shot and if she blew it, that was it. 

"Minus 10 points for Ryan," the Doctor said after a moment when her concentration slipped again, shifting to his nervous pacing. Both of her companions were clearly more nervous than she was and that was obvious. And strange. She didn’t know them to get nervous very often, though even she had to admit that this was kinda nerve wracking. He made an indignant noise, looking ready to start to argue when the door creaked. He moved to it immediately, pressing himself between the person on the other side and the interior. The Doctor only hoped it blocked them from view.

"It's early," Yaz murmured. "The timer hasn't run out yet. Shoulda had more time.” The Doctor could have sworn she saw Yaz flinch when she hushed her.

That dreadful ticking still filled the room, yes, and the Doctor was ready to tear her ears out. Had the noise always been so annoying to her? It didn't seem like it, but maybe the stress of the situation was finally getting to her. She could feel the sweat trickling down her back, her hands also slick. She couldn't hold her tools properly with her hands barely able to grip anything and she growled in annoyance. 

The ticking seemed to go quicker the longer she sat there working, time running out faster and faster. She wasn't anywhere near done and Ryan seemed to be fighting a losing battle at the door. There was a ding from the timer and the Doctor groaned, slumping back onto the ladder. Yaz was laughing slightly, reaching up to pat the Doctor on the shoulder as she regarded her handiwork.

The cake was lopsided, a little heavy on one end with several layers slightly larger on one side than the other. It didn't really matter, it looked good enough, and she knew that Graham would love it. Her only regret was the little decorations at the top. She'd tried to write out the words "Happy Birthday Graham" on the top, but she'd failed a little bit with the rickety ladder and the distracting tick of the timer. 

It had been a giant ploy between her, Ryan and Yaz. Graham's birthday had snuck up on all of them (time in the TARDIS, it wasn't linear by any means and the Doctor was terrible at keeping track of time anywhere). Once Ryan had revealed the info, slightly panicked that he'd forgotten it, they (that being the Doctor) formed a very complicated plan for the best party for Graham. Yaz and Ryan shot it down very quickly, saying that it would be easier to just make him a nice cake and throw a simple surprise party.

The concession between the three of them had come in the form of the cake. The Doctor had been a pretty good baker in one of her previous lives, she felt it in her bones, so she knew she had the skill to make the best cake that Graham had ever seen. Ryan and Yaz had conceded the point of the cake as long as she let them take care of the rest of the decorations. 

The Doctor had gone to great lengths to make this cake as perfect as she could get it. She'd spent countless hours picking out flavors, taking info from both Ryan her own observations. Then had come the decorations, the icing. Everything had to be perfect for Graham, he was part of her fam and he deserved the best when it came to his birthday. Humans loved having their birthdays celebrated, at least all the ones that she'd traveled with.

She'd selected the cake after long nights of deliberation and pages of drafting paper. Finally, she had the perfect design. It had taken days to get all the layers done and arranged in the right order. Ryan and Yaz offered to help multiple times but she pushed them away for this part. This was her gift to Graham, she had to get it just perfect. 

The final product wasn't as....good as she wanted it to be, but she'd put her effort into it. It was a scale replica of the sofa in Graham's house, the one that she'd fallen asleep on all that time ago. Where this all started, the Fam, if she took it back to its further point. She wanted to honor it for him. And for Grace. Though a bit lopsided (and a tad sloppily frosted) it had turned out decent and she was proud of her work. The words “Happy Birthday Graham” were scrawled against a pillow, the largest one on the sofa. Her handwriting wasn’t horrible. She stood in front of the thing when Graham was finally allowed to enter. 

He stared at her for a long moment, gaze shifting between the cake and the Doctor and the longer the silence went on the more her beaming grin fell, fraction by fraction. Then Graham crossed the distance and drew her into an almost bone-crushing hug. The Doctor flailed, more than a tad uncomfortable but it was Graham's birthday and anything for him. That was a human tradition, right? Making sure that whoever was having the birthday was happy? She was pretty sure she read that somewhere once, had encountered that with Rose or someone else.

"Can't believe you made it my sofa," Graham said, staring at the thing. "Coulda been anything and you made it my sofa."

"It's a really comfy sofa," the Doctor said by way of reply. "Now are you gonna help us eat it or are you gonna sit there and complain about it being a sofa?"

**Author's Note:**

> please come check me out [@joanwolfe](https://joanwolfe.tumblr.com/) on tumblr, i accept prompts, talk about doctor who stuff and just generally vibe. or feel free to leave a kudos or a comment, it's always awesome to see when people enjoy this stuff.
> 
> the world's kinda crazy now so i hope you took some enjoyment from this silly little fluff piece. stay safe and stay sane everyone.
> 
> ~~jo


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